Green Building to Accelerate, Survey Finds

Construction companies worldwide are shifting their business toward green building, with 51 percent of respondents to a survey by research firm McGraw-Hill Construction saying they expect more than 60 percent of their work to be green by 2015.

This trend is not localized to one country or region. From 2012 to 2015, the number of firms anticipating that more than 60 percent of their work will be green more than triples in South Africa; more than doubles in Germany, Norway and Brazil; and grows between 33 and 68 percent in the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, the report says.

The key driver to going green, according to the survey, is that green building now represents a business imperative around the world. In the 2008 report, McGraw-Hill Construction found that the top driver for green building was “doing the right thing.” However in 2012, business drivers such as client and market demand are the key factors influencing the market.

Global industry professionals have high expectations of the operating cost benefits of green building. Some 19 percent believe their operating costs will decrease by 15 percent or more over the next year, and 51 percent believe there will be increases of 6 percent or more. Some 39 percent believe they will see savings of 15 percent or more over the next five years, while 67 percent expect savings of 6 percent or more.

The acceleration of the green building marketplace around the world is creating markets for green building products and technologies, which in turn will lead to faster growth of green building, McGraw-Hill Construction says.

The number of federal LEED-certified projects skyrocketed by about 51 percent in 2012. Federal facilities achieving LEED certification jumped from 544 completed in 2011 to 821 in just the first eight months of 2012, according to a news report from the Federal Times in October.